Incandescent lamps have been in use for over a hundred years, and remain in widespread use. They are relatively inexpensive to purchase and easy to replace. Fluorescent lamps use less energy than incandescent lamps. They are, however, initially more expensive to purchase than incandescent bulbs and more expensive to replace, and may not be as readily available as incandescent bulbs, which can be found at many retail locations.
Although fluorescent lamps are more energy-efficient, many light fixtures are designed only for standard incandescent light bulbs. To use a fluorescent lamp in such fixtures requires an adapter. Adapters for allowing fluorescent lamps to be used in place of incandescent lamps in such fixtures are known. Typically, such adapters include a housing that contains or can receive a fluorescent ballast, a socket for receiving the contact pins of a fluorescent lamp, and a threaded ring contact and a tip contact similar or identical to those on the base of a standard incandescent bulb, which allows the adapter to be simply screwed into a standard incandescent socket.
Typically, known fluorescent adapters can be removed from a standard incandescent socket just as easily as they can be installed. That is not normally a problem, but in some cases it is desirable to prevent the adapter from being removed after installation. For example, some manufacturers of fluorescent lamps are partners in ENERGY STAR®, a program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to promote energy efficiency. Many manufacturers of electrical appliances are ENERGY STAR® partners, and many of the ENERGY STAR® partners offer rebates on qualified products. In those cases, it would defeat the purpose of the ENERGY STAR® program, and subject manufacturers to payment of unnecessary rebates, if the fluorescent adapter could be removed and the consumer could revert to incandescent bulbs.
There is a need for a fluorescent adapter that can be installed as easily as an incandescent light bulb but that cannot be removed after installation. The present invention meets that need.